Improvement in kerosene burning-flusds



lobject tothe gained bydoingso.

I UNITED STATES PATENT `GEEICE..

A nnAnAisIcEsNEn, oF w'ILIIIAr-Iseune, NEW YORK, AssIGNoa To THE ASPHALT MINING AND KanosENE cAs COMPANY.

IMPROVEMENTIIN K'ERosI-:NE BuRNlNG-FLUic-is.

Specification forming party o' Letters Patent No. '1l.,204., dated June 27, 18S-l.

To fillzrmm. it may concern:

Be. it knownthat I, 'ABRAHAM GESNER,-late Ot' the city and county ot' New York, now of Williamsburg, in the county ot' Kingsv and State of New York, have invented or discovered a new and useful manufacture or composition ot' mattei', being anew liquid hydrocarbon, which I denominate Kerosene,.and which nia-y be used for illuminating and other purposes, ot' which the following is a specification.

-l obtain this productfrom petroleum, maltha,

`or soft mineral pitch, asphaltum, vor bitumen,

wherever found, by dry distillation and subsequent treatment with powerful reagents and redistillation.

This process, which will -presently be described, yicldskcrosene of three difterentqnalitics or proofs, each ot' wl1ich a mix-turcin certain proportions'of a spirituous, light, and highly volatleandinflammable liquid with an oily, heavy, and less volatile and iniiammable liquid. I havenot succeeded in completely separating these liquids in the manufacture, and I see no practically-useful Neither have I ascertained the exact proportions in which the two `liquids aremixed; but I' suppose the lightest fluid, which I denomintate A kerosene,`to be composed of two parts, by measure or equivalent proportions, of the heavy and eight partsot"` the light. iiuid. Its specific gravity is .750, water being` 1, and it boils at .1500 Fahrenheit. It is not a solvcntofsuch gums as I `have tried to dissolve in it, among' which I may mention india-rubber.

.844, at a temperature of G00 Fahrenheit, will dissolve thirty-five parts, by measure, of this liquid. By itself the A kerosene is highly vol- `'atile and intlanimable, so much so that even in cold winter weather a good' light is produced by forcing a current ot atmosphericwair through it, circulating the saine in pipes and burning itin jets like gas.

The second or medium-proof fluid I call B kerosene, andsuppose it to be composed of four parts or equivalents ot the heavyand my opinion,

Sixty-five parts,V bymeasure, of alchohol of specific gravity five parts of thisliquid. l By itselfthe B keroselle is moderately volatileand inflammable, but

will not., like the A,yicldav good lightby having a current ot' air passed through it and burned. I I

The third or low-)woottluid I call C kerosencfand suppose it to be composed ot' six parts or equivalents ot' the heavy and four of thelightliquid. Unlike theA and 13, the

- heavy liquid prepondcrates in and gives 'char-I `dia-rubber dissolves in it readily.

acter to the C kerosene. VIts specitlcgravity is .S00 and its boiling-point is 3500 Fahrenheit. Unlike A and 15, it is not soluble inalcohol, but is a good solvent of gums,-as. in-

lt isnot very volatile or inflammable; but in an Argand lamp, with av button over thewick, it burns with a brilliant white light vwithout smoke or the naphthalous` odor so ott'ensive'in'` many hydrocarbons having some resemblance to this, but possessing` very dii'erent properties; As burning-fluids vt'or the purpose of artificial illumination, these are highly useful and economical, either separately, mixed together, or,

A77 and FB mixed wthalcohol. l"The kerosene has also provedevery good as alubricant for machinery where ithas been tried; but,

being` arnew thing, the kerosene doubtless has very numerous uses besides its adaptation to illumination and lubrication that will soon be discovered at ter it ismanuf'acturedon thelarge scale and putinto markctasan articleof trader Morever, as the rocks whence the kerosene is useless matter will by means ot' this invention be 'rendered available for the uses-ot` mankind as a cheap and (convenient substitute for/illuminating purposes for the oils and fats ,which are yearly increasing in scarcity. and value.

The process and apparatus I employ in producing the kerosene I will nowV proceed to describe, premising that I do not confine myself to any particular form or vari-angelnent ot' apparatus, but intend to use whatever may prove most convenientin any given case.

The tirst part of the process consists -in submitting the raw material to dry distillation at the lowest temperature at whiich the kerosene -will volatilize, care being taken not o raise the temperature so long as vtolerably rapid evaporation continues, and the heatmust notin any case he raised above 8000 Fahrenheit,

' siphon, or otherwise.

be utilized or disposed' of advantageously; but

as the yheat, it raised' to the slightest perceptible red in daylight, would be s o high as to defeat the wholeobject of the process, for a greatly-increasedproduetion ot'. gas would take place and the liquid product would be napthaI instead ofker'osene. Whatever gas may be generated I employ for illuminating purposes in`tho ordinary manner, and also as fuel for heating the still. For this dry distillation I have used large cast-iron retorts, set in suita ble furnaces for the evaporation, and metal pipes or'chambers surrounded by-water for the condensation of the vapor. -The .liquid pro-Il Yducts of thisdistillation 'archeavy tarand water'orammoniacal liquor, which lie atthe bot-A tom of the receiver, and a lighter liquid, which floats above them. The'heavy liquids and the light are separated by drawing otl one or the `rother into another vessel by means of a cock, 'Iheheavy liquids may theyhave no further connection with this process, and therefore I shall not, here describe l, the mode in which I propose to utilize them'.

rI he light liquid is then submitted to redistillation at the lowest possible heat in a common still and condenser. The product of this re-l distillation is a ight volatile liquid, which ac.`

cumulates in the receiver, and a heavy tarry residunm left in the still, and which may be f added to the heavyliquid impuritiesot the first distillate. The light liquid'is transferred from the receiver to a vsuitable vessel or vat,- and mixed thoroughly with from Afive to ten per cent. of strong sulphuric,n itric, or muriatic acid, according tothequantity of tar present. Seven per cent. isabout the average quantity required; botany quantity is useful. I have enumerated three ncids;, bu't I- give the pref- Ierence to sulphuric, although either of the others will answer very well. I also mix with the liquid from one 'to three per cent. 'of iper# oxide of manganese, according to the turbid- .ness of the liquid, about two per cent. being the average quantity required. It has the ef- Afeet of facilitating greatly the precipitation of certain of the-impurities which the liquid contains; but although useful I do not deem itY essential. After these substances have been thorug'hly mixed with the liquid by agitation 1t is allowed to stand lrom twelve to twentyfour hours without being disturbed, i1), order Vthat the impurities may'subside. The clear -supernatant liquid is now separated from the lmpurities, both solid and liquid,that have settled to the bottom of the tank, hydra-wing oli'- either 'the one or 'the other into a separate vessel. I next mix the distillate with about two per cent. by weight of powdered and freshlycalcined lime. The latter by its powerful attinity for water will absorb it thoroughly from the liquid hydrocarbon, which always at this stage of thev process contains water in a greater or less quantity.l Lime by its alkaline properties will also neutralize any acid in the liquid. After the lime has been thoroughly mixed with the liquid by stirring, the mixture is again distilled, care being taken toraise the heat ygradually and slowly to about 1600 Fahrenheit, where it is kept by regulating the'damper until all the vapor has' passed over into the receiver that the liquid will yield at this temperature. This product or distillate is the Aherosene, and is drawn oi kfrom the. receiver into an appropriate vessel. The heat is now raisedby again=drawing the damper to about 2600 Fahrenheit, when vapors will `again `rise and .be condensed inthe receiver.

As soon asv the distillateceasesto tiow at this temperature it is drawn oli` from the receiver into a separate vessel, and it constitutes the B kerosene. The heat of vthe still is now raised to about 3600 Fahrenheit, when vapors will again rise and condense in the receiver. As soon as the distillate ceases torun at this temperature thefprocess yis complete. This last product is the C kerosene.

The quantity of lime 1 havementioned is,d

the quantity I have found snticient'in all eases; butany quantity less than ten percent. would be useful. The, lime as an 'alkali 'appears to exert a specific influence or etic'ct which is,` indispensable to thc good. quality .of the product. Neither soda -norv potash '.'cau produce this el'ect in any form in which I .havetried them, and I have made numerous and special eti'orts to replace the lime with -these alkalies.

' lo deprive the liquid ,of water by freshly-` calcincd lime is important, because, as I have discovered, water is highly injurious to the f process and product, even iu very small quantities as it causes'earbolic acid to pass over with the distillates, giving to them a creosotic odorwhich is extremely ot'ensive.

process that thellnids which it produceshave no disagreeable odor. l

The boilingpoints of the. iA, 'B, and C kerosene, as before stated, indicate approximately the temperature atwhich the boiling takes place. .100 or 120 increasel of temperature might take place without producing any sensible effect upon the quality or character pt' the product, as no evaporation .takes place at a temperaturel below that at which the -tirst distillation-begins, or between the tirst and second or second and thirddistillations, and

a thermometer is not used vfor the purpose ol regulating t'h'e temperature, as -the observation and judgment of a skillful workman are sufficient. .Y I

Having claimed under separate specifications the. A and B kerosene, in thisl claimf I As a new I nanufacture' or. composition ol' matter for illuminating and other purposes, the liquid hydrocarbon herein descrbed,\vhich I denominate C kerosene.

In testimonywhereof I have hereunto sub. l

scribed my name.

` v ABRAHAM GESNER.

Witnesses:

F. G. FONTAINE, HoRA'rIo EAGLE.

lt is one of the great'aud peculiar advantages of my 

